Les linfoot wrote in message .. .
I am misting an outdoor tree because
Tomlinson (The Complete Book of Bonsai, page 116) says, "Water
generously once a day and mist-spray foliage daily during the summer
months." Adams (Bonsai Design: Deciduous and Coniferous Trees, page 47,
in the chapter devoted to junipers and cryptomeria) says, "Central to
the robust health of Junipers, is daily foliar misting, which supplies
the 'cloud cover' so appreciated by this species. this also applies to
Cryptomeria." Lewis (Bonsai: A Care Manual, page 87) says, "Cryptomeria
inhabit the lower slopes of mountains where they are shrouded in mist in
the morning and exposed to the sun for the rest of the day. Provided you
can ensure that the pot will not dry out through evaporation, and you
can spray the foliage two or three times a day, your cryptomeria will do
well in full sun."

Well, honestly, that all sounds like nonsense to me. I have never
misted a juniper in my life. If you live in a dry climate, no amount
of misting is going to create a "cloud cover". And if you live in a
humid place, misting isn't going to add appreciable humidity.
Cryptomerias are trees of the lower canopy of forests, so the best way
to give them the conditions they require is to give them some shade.
Treat them as you would a Japanese maple.

However, of all tree used in bonsai, cryptomeria can have the densest
foliage, so misting (or keeping it in the shade, or sheltering it from
wind) can increase the number of hours of leaf moisture inside the
foliage pads. As a plant pathologist, I see this as only a bad thing;
it fosters fungi. I always trim my trees to avoid pockets of thick
foliage.

On this list, the most commonly reported problem of cryptomeria is
inner browning of the foliage, which is generally attributed to lack
of sunlight penetrating through all that thick foliage. The solution
is to thin the foliage. Your problem is not inner browning, but,
according to your description, a browning of whole branches. You
might want to go to a nursery with cryptomerias and observe a whole
bunch of them to make sure this isn't natural-- I have a cultivar of
Chamaecyparis thyoides ('Little Jamie') that normally loses its lower
branches, so I don't even worry about it any more. You might, as
Marty suggested, have a root problem. I'm fearless when it comes to
roots (I did my PhD on root anatomy!), so if I were you, I'd water the
tree like normal, then I'd carefully pull the tree out of the pot and
poke around. I'd be worried about pockets of soil that for some
reason or other do not get wet; this is a real problem of trees grown
in soil and transplanted to pots later; often a core of clay resists
wetting, and roots within that core die. Overwatering can also be a
problem, but rarely in outdoor bonsai in good soil. If your soil is
heavy, and smells rank and "anaerobic", it may be water-logged. Look
for obviously dead roots. If you know what healthy roots look like,
look for roots that are darker or slimier. Healthy juniper roots are
brown and flexible, with tips that are plump and reddish. If you see
dead roots, remove them. If the problem is serious and you have to
transplant, transplant into coarse sand or pure turface and hope for
the best. Otherwise, correct the under- or over-watering problem and
wait for the tree to recover.

Nina. The hurricane passed tranquilly over us, giving us a gentle
rain.